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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what kind of house I’d like once I get one…. not because it’s time for me to worry about such things, but well, one can dream 🙂 and maybe if I have a good idea early on it’ll be easier.

Big houses are amazing. They feel like palaces. But I don’t think I could live in one. It would feel too empty. As long as there’s substantial place to move and walk, I really wouldn’t mind having a small house… one that feels like it’s right out of a fairytale, perhaps it used to be a goblin’s cottage or something. (Would have to be a very tidy goblin by my standards :S)

There are, however, a few things that I would remain insistent about…

1. A cat.

A lovely, fluffy cat. Any house is suddenly that much cozier with a furry feline prowling all over the place, annexing the couch and any comfortable surface as its own. Cats are the acme of happy, and “just in time” – sitting on your homework just when you feel like your head will burst, sashaying in front of the TV just when you’re becoming a zombie from it, demanding your attention… I think people should pay more attention to their cats. If we keep pushing them away saying “no I’m busy I have to finish it, I don’t have time to play around and pet you” then well, what will we do when one day the cat is gone? Won’t we miss its soft fur and wish we had savored a few quiet evenings with the warm body on our laps, listening to its purr and stroking it? There are moments when you just have to drop everything and cuddle.

Once, my family stayed in a little bed and breakfast a few hours from Ottawa. Actually we stayed in many, but I remember this specific one because we were greeted by an utmost adorable cat waiting at the door, just begging to be petted. This is the kind of welcome-experience I think everyone should have 🙂

Our own cat is a little strange… If cats have nine lives, then I maintain that ours was in her past ones; an opera singer, a bird, and a dog. If you ever hear her miaow you won’t need to ask me about the opera singer. I added the second one to the list when I found her sitting nonchalantly on the top shelf of our dresser, where even I can barely reach… does that cat own a tiny unfodable ladder or something? 😛 My best guess was that she secretly learned to fly.

I’m pretty sure many cats used to be dogs in their past lives… does anyone else have a cat that runs to you as soon as you signal, or if you call its name? One that chases little objects you throw around the room and brings them back to you? (mind you that last one was mostly when she was more kitten-like) … No?… Anyone?…. :O

2. A piano

This picture is perfect, because my first thing on this liste goes with pianos perfectly 🙂 A purring audience that lies lazily on the couch and absorbs the sweet sounds of Chopin’s Valse, or Rachmaninoff’s prelude… Maybe it is just sleeping, but the atmosphere is just so much “warmer”.

A harp could work too. But I think I prefer pianos. I may be biased since I play the piano myself. But anyways, these majestic instruments give a home a really classical and sophisticated air.. visions of steaming hot cups of tea, ballroom dance balls, handcrafted curtains, and exquisite paintings come to mind. Well that’s just what pianos make me think of, at least when they’re in good shapes. It makes the house feel like if it had a voice, the walls would talk in british accents.

I thought about adding soundproof walls, because if it’s a small house then the piano might bother people who want to sleep, or watch tv, or focus on work… but then who would be there to listen? Soundproof walls could be a possibility for anyone who wants them. Me, I would want the piano on the top, or second highest (depending on how many stories the house is) floor, perhaps in a spacious room that has elegant couches and beanbag chairs and perhaps a rocking chair – the sitting room, I suppose. There could be bookshelves around, or a coffee-table with magazines, or a chest of board games. Or perhaps a working desk. I had always found listening to classical music beneficial when I work – there are no distracting lyrics, and the sound is very soothing (as much as I love pop and electronica style music, there is no comparing to classical). There have even been studies done that show that classical music increases mind clarity, ability to focus, and brain activity. (I’ll try to dig them up from my bookmarks and post the link here).

On second thought, I think I’d want the desk in my room, or in an office. Maybe a circular room, like a witch’s tower? ;D (oh yeah – my imagination is having the time of its life).

3. A balcony

Ahh yes, a balcony… Any piano players reading this, have you ever dreamed of playing on a little island surrounded by small, lapping waves, feeling the soft breeze? (assuming you are not stranded there). If I had a balcony, and I had nice neighbours, I don’t think I could resist one day opening the doors and pushing it out so it’s just outside, on a warm autumn or spring day, and playing the Romeo and Juliet theme, or Tchaikowsky’s Concerto in Bflat Major, or perhaps Oscar Peterson’s Land of the Misty Giants. I would, of course, be terrified of the balcony falling with the piano’s weight, and worrying about bothering others in the neighbourhood, but this is one of my most dreamed of fantasies. It’s the next best thing, at least, to being on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean.

4. An old wooden (carved) chest.

Every once in a while, I walk into Ten Thousand Villages to see what new merchandise they have, and every time I’m there, I see this one beautiful, intricately carved wooden box. It has curled flowers and leaves all over it, with a few gold-colored metal decorations along the edges. This box is amazing. I imagine opening it and finding century old secrets, or forgotten jewellery, or lost love letters. It is empty every time I actually open it, of course, but it’s just the aura it gives off (I do hope boxes can have auras). It would be the kind of box that I’d put random knicknacks in- things that I pick up from under the couch while vaccuming, or small souvenirs, or old letters from friends, or simply memories from the old days.

I’ve thought of a new sort of journaling, using a box – each day, put something small in itto remember this day by. It could be a letter, a small drawing, a note from a friend, a photo, or a scribble about a funny thing that happened, or a rock you might have picked up on your evening walk. The goal would be for each object to be special somehow- this would not only give you a great delight in digging through the box ten years later, but also make you try to make each day the best it possibly can, and “carpe” each “diem”.

5. An (air-popping) popcorn maker.

This really shouldn’t be important enough to be on the list. But wow, do parties come alive when you pull out the popcorn maker xD. (I actually have no idea, I’m just rambling).

That is actually all I could think of. Certainly, my list will grow over the years.

Haha. My neighbour was moving, and apparently they cut his house in half in order to cart it away with him (though I’m not sure if I got the whole story – I was on the porch laughing in bewilderment xD. Anyways, this is what it looked like for a while;

Demolition in progress!

Here goes the garage (or half of it at least!)

That’s something you don’t see every day xD

Here goes the roof…

Wheeee!!

Now that looked WEIRD.

And awaayyy they gooo!

*Poof!* And they’re gone.

Lol, just like taking the lid of a tea pot. That must have looked rather odd driving on the street xD

Called Lucy :3 Her cuteness almost makes up for her constant noise-making. Just kidding, that’s cute about her too. When it’s not at 6am.

She literally makes you trip over your feet to get her food. Though that may be partly because she herself goes under your feet so you have to trip over them just to not step on her. That cat runs around like a crazed chicken.

In the picture above, my friend is trying to get her to sit on top of the HUGE crochet muffin I made (I have another one that looks more like a cupcake :D) so I can take a good picture.

We forgot to take into account that cats not only like being told what to do, they can predict what it is and take special care to not do it.

This may be the perfect time to share one of my all-time-favorite quotes: (I’m not quite certain on who the author is)

“In order to keep a true perspective of one’s importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him.”

That stuff is gold.

Sadly we do not have a dog to fulfill that. We just have an ignoring, food demanding, fluffy ball of cuddles.

But you know what, I think that’s enough 🙂

This is one of the best pictures I was able to take of her. I’ve learned that to take pics like these, one needs to master the art of slinking around inconspicuously with a camera to capture just the right moment xD (or in my case the better masked iPhone).

Here she is… in the top shelf of our closet. She made herself a nest amidst our winter scarves. And I have no idea how she got up there xP

This here is a passage from Charles Seife’s Zero – and I’m absolutely certain that even the most passionate math-haters can appreciate this section here.

Perhaps we have been seriously underestimating one thing in all our lives.. that thing would be the zero.

Proof that Winston Churchill is a carrot!

“Let a and b each be equal to 1. Since a and b are equal,

b^2 = ab (equation 1)

Since a equals itself, it is obvious that

a^2 = a^2 (equation 2)

Subtract equation 1 from equation 2. This yields

a^2 – b^2 = a^2 – ab (equation 3)

We can factor both sides of the equation; a^2 – ab equals a(a – b). Likewise, a^2 – b^2 equals (a + b) (a – b). (Nothing fishy is going on here. This statement is perfectly true. Plug in numbers and see for yourself!) Substituting into equation 3, we get

(a + b) (a – ) = a(a – b) (equation 4)So far, so good. Now divide both sides of the equation by (a – b) and we get a + b = a (equation 5)Subtract a from both sides and we getb = 0 (equation 6)But we set b to 1 at the very beginning of this proof, so this means that1 = 0 (equation 7)This is an important result. Going further, we know that Winston Churchill has one head. But one equals zero by the last equation, so that means that Winston has no head. Likewise, Churchill has zero leafy tops, therefore he has one leafy top. Multiplying both sides of equation 7 by 2, we see that2 = 0 (equation 8)Churchill has two legs, therefore he has no legs. Churchill has two arms, therefore he has no arms. Now multiply equation 7 by Winston Churchill’s waist size in inches. This means that(Winston’s waist size) = 0 (equation 9)This means that Winston Churchill tapers to a point. Now, what color is Winston Churchill? Take any beam of light that comes from him and select a photon. Multiply equation 7 by the wavelength, and we see that(Winston’s photon’s wavelength) = 0 (equation 10)But multiplying equation 7 by 640 nanometers, we see that 640 = 0 (equation 11)Combining equations 10 and 11, we see that(Winston’s photon’s wavelength) = 640 nanometersThis means that this photon – or any other photon that comes from Mr.Churchill – is orange. Therefore Winston Churchill is a bright shade of orange. To sum up, we have proved, mathematically, that Winston Churchill has no arms and no legs; instead of a head, he has a leafy top; he tapers to a point; and he is bright orange. Clearly, Winston Churchill is a carrot. (There is a simpler way to prove this. Adding 1 to both sides of equation 7 gives the equation2 = 1Winston Churchill and a carrot are two different thigns, therefore they are one thing. But that’s not nearly as satisfying.)What is wrong with this proof? There is only one step that is flawed and that is the one where we go from equation 4 to equation 5. We divide by a – b. But look out. Since a and b are both equal to 1, a – b = 1 – 1 = 0. We have divided by zero, and we get the ridiculous statement that 1 = 0. From there we can prove any statement in the universe, whether it is true or false. The whole framework of mathematics has exploded in our faces. Used unwisely, zero has the power to destroy logic.”